This year, the Computer Programming club takes a new approach to preparing students for the fastest growing career opportunity. The Computer Programming club has been a part of Seminole for three years; however, co-presidents senior David Jones and junior Joel Zishuk want to create a more welcoming environment.

Zishuk, who has been participating in this club for three years, says, “Our goal is to get everyone that is coming to the club competition ready, and hopefully by the end of the year go to at least one competition. We want this club to continue on to teach others this STEM principle.”

To help prepare students, Seminole alumni Satya Patel attends club meetings. Patel teaches students unique aspects of programming that allow them to compete on a higher level by preparing lesson plans and short homework activities. Patel’s experience with competing in competitions has helped him play a crucial role in the club. He helps prepare students for online and UCF competitions, which occur throughout the year.

Jones says, “We help each student attain the level they’d like to achieve; we provide the tools for learning and they provide the effort. We’ve been teaching them various computer languages.”

Although the presidents are putting significant focus on preparing students for competitions, they also encourage new students, who are unfamiliar with computer programming, to join. New members are provided with reference websites, homework, and other coding opportunities.

Zishuk continues on to say, “We’re trying to create a base of information for people that don’t know this at all so that they can learn and become interested in programming, especially if they find a job later on where they use it.”

Computer Programming is a growing field. Meetings start in the cafeteria, where everyone first comes together. Afterwards, the club members move to the advisor’s room and everyone uses computers individually. Although the idea of homework in an afterschool club may seem boring, the work is looked at for accuracy in order to help the students who want to learn more about computer programming.

Senior Salwa Meghjee says, “I’ve never really done anything with computer programming and didn’t have that much knowledge coming in, but they were all friendly. Everybody is at different levels but [David, Joel, and Satya] were all very helpful.”

If one is interested in this club, meetings are every Thursday in the cafeteria. Contact the sponsor, Mr. Streleckis, for more information.